Between Rocks and Hard Places
Cat and Giraffe game "Geoffrey concentrated, and snapped his fingers. The gold coin Cato had caught transformed into a crispleaf snack before her astonished eyes. “You look hungry. Eat that, and go. A little girl like you should go somewhere safe.“ '' Click here to read the first part of the thread. Between Rocks and Hard Places ''"Hehe. Thanks for the food mister!" ''Cato had waved her thanks before retreating again.' Well, even though she had said something like that, it wasn't exactly as though she could just hop over to the Vanguard troops. The sun beat down mercilessly. All was quiet in the canyon - a temporary truce had been called due to the noonday heat. From her perch on a canyon ledge Cato could see the Valerian flag over the encampment, snapping in the fickle canyon winds. She could also just make out a familiar cyan head as it weaved amongst milling soldiers. Cato slumped despondently against a boulder. Dang it. She hadn't expected the Blue Marquess to join up with the forces at Whitewater. Cato had arrived after a detour to Winchester to see off fellow traveller Criscella, and reached just in time to find the tower bridge captured by the Valerian forces. From there, it had just been a matter of tailing the Vanguard as they made progress across the mountainous terrain. She had been wondering why they had taken to skirting around the Spine and sneaked into camp under cover of darkness. It was then that she had discovered that the main royal Vanguard was meeting up with the advance troops that had split for Lightning Ridge to regroup before charting their next course. From there, things had gone from bad to worse. The Queen had decided to make for Frundus Tower to resupply at the destroyed citadel before heading to the Ruins. Cato shuddered. She couldn't imagine how terrifying the old demon capital must be in its ruined state, and if rumors were to be believed all sorts of demonic predators arose from the depths at night. It made the fur on her shoulders stand. There was no help for it. Cato stole a spare horse (she made a mental apology to the poor soldier she'd taken it from) and decided to follow the advance troops through the marginally less dangerous route of the Devil's Alley. The only problem was that besides that minor demon Lord Zoah... there was also Lady Blue. Cato hadn't exactly gotten on good footing with her after her last visit to the Blue Lady's mansion to say the least. In any case, she had been promised a good hiding if she ever came into the Lady's presence again. Which meant that Cato was in serious trouble. The half-wildling licked dry lips. The arid weather had proved more punishing than she'd expected. Her supplies had run low fast. But with the Lady moving about doing inspections she couldn't exactly sneak in either. Cato looked back the way had came. It had seemed like the strange fellow she had met had some transformation skill of sorts. Magic? But no, he was a beastkin so that couldn't be right. The half-wilding's ears twitched in interest. It might be interesting to find out what he could do, and she had no complaints if she could get some food magicked up in the process. She stood up decisively. It was worth a try.